Amber's Rose
by ohmyyedward
Summary: This story follows 17 year old Lydia Green as she is forced to attend summer camp. There she meets crazy and charismatic Amber Hamerlin and her oh-so-irresistible brother, Aiden. Filled with laughter, tears, and drama.


**PREFACE**

MY MIND REELED AS I TRIED TO FALL ASLEEP. I could only think of one thing: Water. I tried to push the image out of my mind, but it kept on pulling its way back into my head, playing over and over again as I tried to escape the memory and dive into more pleasant thoughts. But of course, I failed. The memory flooded into my head as if a dam had broke & pulled me back to the day I nearly drowned. I could almost feel the pressure of the water in my lungs, preventing me from breathing. I wanted air, and I wanted it fast. But the more I struggled with the waves, the more breathless I became. I tried calling for help, but it seemed as if everybody was too far to hear me. My arms grew tired of fighting the current, and I eventually gave up. I remember thinking I was going to die. That I would never see my family again, and nobody would know what happened to me. But then I woke up on the shore.

**ONE**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE TALKED ME INTO THIS," I mumbled. I didn't want to do this. I didn't sign up for a _reason_. I mean, why on earth would Lydia Green go to camp? I'm not into exploring the "great outdoors". Besides, I have better ways to spend my summer. Eating potato chips and watching reruns of Gossip Girl is what I do best.

I put my only pair of good jeans into my suitcase and moved to the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, toothpaste, and the basic necessities and put them into the crook of my arm. "Ugh," I thought as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I'm so plain. My look has never changed since I was in middle school. Same straight, red hair. Always in a high ponytail. No makeup. Just me, myself, and the scattered freckles. My best friend, Lane, only talked me into coming with her to camp because she said colleges look for things like this on applications. I needed all the help I could get if I was going to get in a good school for next fall.

So here I am. Packing for a month long trip to the outskirts of Texas, where me and a bunch of other teens will be "having a blast" as we meet new friends and have a time to remember at Camp Longview. Yeah._ Right_. A time to remember all the fun times I _could _have been having if I was at _home_, snuggled up next to my dog, Toto, and sleeping late. But, no. I'll be at camp. Yay.

I went back to my room and placed my toiletries into my suitcase and zipped it up. "There," I thought. All finished. I just hope I didn't forget anything. It would be a pain if I got all the way to camp, and then realized I had left something behind. Knowing me, I probably would.

Lane called the minute I sat down to relax and enjoy my last few hours of camp-free summer.

"Hey Lyd." she said when I answered.

"Hey, Evil One."

"Oh, come on! It's going to be fun," she insisted.

"Sure. Fun."

"Really! There's going to be lots to do and maybe even some gossip worthy hotties…"

Yeah. Like my idea of fun is running around in the hot sun while my hair frizzes up and hot guys surround me. _Yeah_. Not exactly my cup of tea.

"Lane, are you _sure_ you don't want to just go without me?" I asked hopefully.

"No way are you getting out of this one. I'm picking you up at ten o'clock on the dot, which gives you about an hour to get your act together."

I laughed. It's hard to get Lane to change her mind once she's set on something. I told her she should have tried out for the debate team, but she was stubborn about that too. Saying that debate is just a pointless ramble of politics and current affairs and that nobody knows what they're talking about. Whatever, that's Lane for you.

"Fine," I said as I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "I'll see you in a bit."

***

The drive to camp was horrible. Lane decided that she didn't feel like driving and had her brother, Mark, take us. That was fine. But what wasn't fine was the fact that we had to listen to this screamo band that totally freaked me out. And that Mark tried to sing along with them. Now _that _was scary.

My first impression of Camp Longview was that it was beautiful. Big Oak trees and tons of different types of bushes surrounded three long rows of tiny cabins and what looked like a counselor's office and cafeteria. To the back of the cabins, I could see trails that led in every direction and to the far right, a big lake. I grimaced. There was no way I was going into that lake. Not if I could help it.

Four ladies that looked like they were in their mid twenties greeted us as we arrived. The first lady introduced herself as Carmen. She was the head counselor of the camp and had three co-counselors (who just happened to be sisters): Amie, Becca, and Taylor.

Carmen, with short, bleach blond hair, looked like she could be America's Next Top Model. She wore a pair of Chanel sunglasses paired with a low v-neck zebra tank top and low-rise skinny jeans. She looked really pretty. Her facial expressions when she saw me and Lane on the other hand- not so pretty. I could tell she had already thought herself better than us with our plain Target sunglasses, shorts, and t-shirts. _Beyotch Alert!_

You could tell that Amie, Becca ,and Taylor were all sisters despite the obvious personality and fashion differences. Amie was a total rebel chick. Or at least wannabe. With her high top leather boots paired with a SlipKnot band tee and booty shorts, she was a total babe and Lane's brother Mark would have fainted if he was still here.

Becca was the complete opposite of Amie. She had on a "What Would Jesus Do?" t-shirt with plain blue jeans and tennis shoes. Basically the only thing in common with the two was their mousy facial features and brown curly hair.

Taylor looked like a kind of mixture between the two. She had the same curly, brown hair, but had on low top Converse paired with shorts and a Christian band tee.

It's odd how people turn out, huh?

Carmen led me and Lane to the cafeteria where a welcome assembly would be held and where each of us would be sorted into one of the three cabin rows with a counselor. The cafeteria was set up in a kind of auditorium style, with tables folded and pushed up against the wall while a small stage stood in the center of the room with rows of chairs in front of it.

Almost every chair was filled except for a couple in the front row that looked like they had been avoided on purpose. It was when Lane and I were making our way over to our seats when I heard the most peculiar laugh. It was a little husky and rough, yet still light. And _wonderful_. I don't know what got into me when I heard it, but it was like every other voice got blocked out and all I could hear was that laugh.

I tried to allow my brain to follow that voice and lead my vision to the creator, but there were a whole lot of people and I couldn't seem to pinpoint a person.

But then he laughed again and as if someone had kicked me, I jerked my gaze to the very back of the assembly, and let my eyes rest on the cutest guy I had ever seen. Including Robert Pattinson.

He had dark brown hair, so dark it looked almost black, that I swear "glimmered" in the light. It was cut rather short and kind of stuck up in the front in little tufts. _Adorable_. Oh, and he looked tall. I couldn't really tell since he was sitting down, but by looking at his long, lean legs I'm assuming he's a pretty tall fellow. You could tell he had very defined muscles even though they were hidden under his brown polo and jeans.

I gasped. Oh, his poor face! I had been paying so much attention to his body that I hadn't really looked at his _face_. It was beautiful, just like the rest of him, except… his left eye had been marred with scars that looked like scratches. He could only open it about halfway and you could see that the scars started at his eyebrow, went over his eyelid, and ended just above his cheekbone.

It was probably a good thing that just then, Lane snapped me out of my trance and shoved me in a seat just as Carmen and the other counselors took the stage.

I definitely didn't want his first impression of me to be that he caught me ogling him or worse, staring at his face.


End file.
